It’s cold in the desert come December,,, And being a small time repair shop in the middle of said desert makes for lots of think time. Living near the witches of Amboy Crater, on the National Trails highway, that really isn’t much of a highway,,, Well, live moves at a much slower pace than nearer the multilane roads going to L.A.
Christmas eve, its lonely in the house ever since the missus joined her parents in heaven,,, I couldn’t take the ghosts of Christmas past anymore, so came out here to the shop, kicked on the “Open” sign and am trying to visit with Ghosts of Christmas future.
They seem a might few and far between these days,,,
Headlights,,, movin’ slow,,, Hmm…
A little beat up Toyota Celica from many many decades past pulls in,,, Front drivers side tire smoking in the chill air. I step out and can smell the burned brake pads and hear the tinking of cooling metal. I already know what the problem is, Too bad it will be a week before I can get the parts though.
“Are you really Open?” says the young fresh faced college age girl from the open drivers window.
“Yes’m. Not much to do but sit out here and think, maybe offer someone some help if needed.”
“Yeah,,, ’bout that.” she mumbles, “I think I need some help here.”
“I can tell you do ma’am,,, Problem being, its Christmas eve and there ain’t a thing but me between here and Needles and Twenty-nine Palms Base. Nothing open, nowhere to get parts.” I slow down a bit; no need to get the girl into a major depression. ” I can get you a room at Roys hotel in Amboy, but repairing your car isn’t going to happen tonight or tomorrow.”
“Shit!,,, I knew it. ” she remarks as she hits the steering wheel. “I was supposed to be meeting up with my husband at the Stumps.” she said, which tells me she is a verfiable Marine wife. No one in the Civvy world calls it ‘the stumps’. “NOW, here I am, in the middle of literal nowhere,,, with a broken car,,,”
“Tell ya what. I can use your car as collateral, and lend you a car to get you where you need, BUT, You gotta make good for me and get back here as soon as the holidays are over. There ain’t a place you could rent one out here and its almost 2 hours back to Needles, the only place with a rental, and they likely aren’t even open today.”
“You’d lend me a car?” she asks incredulously.
“Sure. Its the missus’ car, she won’t mind. May not be what you are used to, but it runs really nice and takes these rough desert roads like a tank.”
“wouldn’t your wife be upset with you lending her car to a young girl?”
“Na, she’s across the highway with the rest of the family we had” I say, pointing
The young girl looks, sees the Cemetary gates and goes pale. ” You just make sure to watch it going, sometimes the sand blows and makes the road fade away at night.”
“I noticed that after leaving Needles. Scary!” she agrees. “What do you need from me, ’cause I am already late and he is probably freakin’ out a bit.”
“Just a way to get ahold of you. I don’t want to repair your car without your approval of its cost. I can tell you, its gonna be a little pricey as the parts for this old girl aren’t common anymore.”
“I know,,, its my grandmas car she left me, and I love it, but it tends to eat my savings up, in upkeep. I’m Malorie,,,,” extending her hand,,,
so we go inside and exchange keys and information. Afterwards, I go back to the house and get Mama’s Volvo and bring it to the shop. And old 80’s model; square like a pile of bricks and just as tough. Funny, its nearly the same year as Malories Celica.
As she is leaving, I watch the tailights fade into the desert night. I do hope she has a better Christmas than she has been having. I turn back to the shop and pull her car in; working on the brakes to find out whats wrong and what needs replaced, until my yawns are too frequent.
—————–Christmas Day————
Looking online to get parts for Malories car, I get an estimate together. Will be 2 weeks she is down, as all the parts need ordered from wholesalers or from scrap yards. It’s getting harder and harder to find parts for some of these older models. I’ll call her with an estimate tomorrow,,, let her have her time with Hubby and friends today.
Yet another lonely day in the desert; at least I have something to work on to turn my mind outward, and not inward as is usual.
Then I hear the rumble,,, ‘what the hell?!?!”
Looking down the highway, a line of Humvees is headed down the highway past my place from the direction of 29 Palms. Highly unusual for a convoy during the holiday. I stand in the doorway watching.
Only, they don’t drive by,,,,
They pull into my lot. Its a tight squeeze for 20 humvees, but they do so and not hog the shoulder of the road.
And then I see Mama’s Volvo,,, with a grinning Malorie behind the wheel. She pulls in as close as she get with all the military hardware occupying my lot, and starts my way. As she does, a young man joins her, head to toe in MarPat cammies. A Captain if I recall the bars correctly. He hugs her and clasps her hand as the two head my way.
“Zack, meet my Husband, Captain Reese” she pronounces the last name like the candy,, “We brought Christmas dinner with us for you and his company.”
And the Captain says, ‘No one should be alone on Christmas, sir,,,
Merry Christmas,,,,”
story track inspired by Jays post
For those of you that are,,,, find a church or outreach, find people,,, this day is not one you should be silent and lonely over.
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